


i'll be your man (if you've got love to get done)

by rhododaktylos_yue



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack Fic, Crack Taken Seriously, Crack That Became Serious, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Sexual Humor, There's no explicit sex in this, Zuko and Sokka are both extremely extra, idiots to lovers, or rather, seriously these boys are so stupid, they are doing the most
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:00:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25741720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhododaktylos_yue/pseuds/rhododaktylos_yue
Summary: Firelord Zuko is far too recognizable to visit a sex shop, so he dons the Blue Spirit costume once again....he might not have thought this through.Or: how Zuko and Sokka go from idiots to idiots who are also boyfriends.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 422





	i'll be your man (if you've got love to get done)

**Author's Note:**

> I would love comments about what made you laugh!!
> 
> Title from No Plan by Hozier. Not beta’d, so all mistakes are mine. Also please note that this takes place several years into Zuko's reign.

In fairness to Zuko, he couldn’t exactly waltz into a sex shop given his recognizability, and his opportunities for dating strong, burly men were slim (for a number of reasons), and he’d been working with minimal brainpower at the time, because, well. He was horny.

Still. Maybe he could have foreseen this.

“The Blue Spirit was seen again last night, your majesty. Here in Caldera.” The patrolwoman stood stiff with her hands clasped behind her back, admirably professional.

“The Blue Spirit?” Sokka asked. “I thought he’d been pardoned.”

“Only for releasing the Avatar,” Zuko corrected. He probably should have pardoned all the other crimes, too, but he’d thought maybe it’d be a bit suspicious. After all, the Blue Spirit had robbed a lot of people, and Zuko hadn’t thought of an excuse to excuse that. Zuko addressed the patrolwoman who was delivering the news. “What was he doing?”

“Uh…” Zuko sympathized with the patrolwoman’s discomfort, although he couldn’t afford to share it. He wasn’t supposed to know yet what had been stolen. “He visited  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ .”

“The play?” Zuko asked.

“The…” The patrolwoman shifted her weight. “The shop.” With a bit of hesitation, she added, “It sells, um,  _ adult  _ items? Of pretty high-quality.” Her face turned redder as she remembered who she was speaking to.

Sokka made a noise. Zuko pointedly did not look over or try to decipher it. “What did he steal?”

Sokka’s eyebrows shot up. Perhaps Zuko was being too casual.

“What would you like us to do about it, sir?” the patrolwoman asked, ignoring Zuko’s query. Apparently she really did not want to say the word  _ dildo  _ in front of the Firelord. Zuko couldn’t blame her.

Zuko sighed. It’s not like he needed an answer to his question; the Blue Spirit’s spoils currently sat in a drawer in his bedside table. He didn’t need them to investigate, either, but telling them not to would be - again - very suspicious.

“Investigate as usual. Keep me updated.”  _ And PLEASE don’t find anything. _

↢ ⽕ ↣

“The Blue Spirit struck again,” Sokka informed the group during a rare casual dinner – which included himself, Zuko, Toph, and Suki, since Katara and Aang were helping to train the waterbending toddlers of the Southern Water Tribe. They tried to make time for things like group dinners, even in the chaos of being six young adults who practically ran the world.

“What’d you do, Sparky?” Toph asked.

Zuko whipped his head to look at her, his surprise quickly morphing into a glare. Suki hid her snort behind her hand.

Of course Toph knew the real identity of the Blue Spirit. Toph knew everything, and Sokka was frightened of her power.

“ _ You’re _ the Blue Spirit?” Sokka asked. Maybe he should be more surprised than he was; if anyone Sokka knew was going to dress up as the Blue Spirit and break into heavily guarded fortresses... okay, yeah, he should’ve known it was Zuko. Zuko  _ loved _ breaking into places. He probably considered it a good first date activity.

Hm. Maybe Sokka should recontextualize their trip to the Boiling Rock.

Zuko sighed. “I was a teenager. I had a lot of rage. I liked to steal.”

In answer to Toph’s question, Sokka said, “Zuko robbed a shop.”

“Yeah Sparky!” Toph hollered.

Sokka added, “A sex shop.”

Toph cheered again, even louder, and Suki tried to give Zuko a high five. Zuko lay his head on the table with a groan, one arm folded underneath his face; Suki manhandled the other arm so she could complete the high five. The little bit of Zuko’s face that Sokka could see was  _ very _ pink.

“Bring me along next time!” Toph punched Zuko’s shoulder.

Sokka made a face. Toph may be nineteen now, but he was still adjusting to thinking of her as a grown-up.

“What did he steal?” Suki asked Sokka.

Sokka shrugged. “Don’t know yet.” But he really, really, really wanted to find out.

He began to work on a plan.

Sokka was good at plans.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Sokka strode confidently over to Zuko’s desk the next morning and lifted himself onto it, legs dangling off the side.

“You should send me to investigate the Blue Spirit’s grand theft dildo,” Sokka said.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at him. “Why?”

“Because that way I can hide any evidence that’ll lead back to you.”

Zuko considered it. “Why would I send my Water Tribe ambassador to investigate something like this?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Sokka waved him off. “You’ll be sending in,” his voice deepened ridiculously as he mimed stroking a beard, “Wang Fire, detective. I’ll crack this case like my sister cracks icebergs containing avatars. Or rather, I won’t.”

“Wang Fire has almost as diverse a resume as you,” Zuko deadpanned. Sokka had first been one of Zuko’s Kyoshi Warrior bodyguards (and looked very good doing it, not that Zuko had noticed), before he took over as ambassador when Katara decided she wanted to return to the Southern Water Tribe.

Besides being ambassador, though, Sokka was always monitoring the security around the palace, arguing with Zuko’s advisors about almost everything, and learning how to paint. Plus, whenever Zuko let on that he was even slightly overwhelmed, Sokka would sit down with him and they would methodically make their way through the huge pile of tasks that was stressing Zuko out.

Despite Zuko’s infinite gratitude for Sokka’s help, he wished it wasn’t necessary in this particular case. Why did it have to be big news if the Firelord wanted to buy a dildo? His job was stressful. He should be entitled to some stress relief. He shouldn’t have had to don the Blue Spirit costume to avoid headlines reading, FIRELORD BUYS DILDO.

“Yes, I am a very accomplished man.” Sokka dropped the ridiculous voice. “Was that a yes?”

Zuko sighed. “Yeah, that would actually be pretty helpful.”

Sokka cheered.

“I’m surprised you’re not making fun of me.”

“I have to go find out what exactly you stole.  _ Then  _ I’ll make fun of you.”

Zuko wished he didn’t enjoy the glint in Sokka’s eye as much as he did, especially considering it usually preceded some merciless teasing.

But Sokka was the only person who regularly teased him, aside from Toph and Suki, and Zuko liked that it made their friendship one of equals. Zuko couldn’t be friends with someone who was scared of him. Plus, Sokka was generally pretty funny, and he knew what was off-limits for teasing. He rarely crossed the line, and when he did, he would casually apologize and transition easily into teasing Zuko about something else.

Sokka hopped off the desk. He turned and walked backwards so he could keep teasing Zuko. “Oh, should I pick anything up for you while I’m there? Or are you good?”

Zuko considered yelling at him before thinking better of it; Sokka would be so much more alarmed if he played along. “Yeah, could you grab me more lube?”

Zuko laughed as Sokka ran into the doorframe.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Wang Fire, detective, was standing in the aisle of  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ , notebook in hand as he took the shop owner’s statement.

_ Sokka _ , however, was gathering clues about his crush’s sexual preferences.

So far he knew Zuko had stolen a dildo. The last one of that kind, apparently, so the shop owner couldn’t show him.

“Could you...  _ describe  _ the dildo?”

At least the shop owner - a large, burly, hairy man with a bracelet of thin corded leather - spoke in a straightforward way about stuff like this, considering it was his job.

“Yeah, it was one of our larger models, about 11 and a half inches long-”

On Sokka’s notepad, he wrote:  _ size queen _ . It was his only note so far; Wang Fire was, as promised, a bad detective.

“Bright blue, curved slightly, with a large head and a textured shaft-”

“Textured how?”

“Subtle ridges and bumps that really enhance the experience.”

Sokka stroked his fake beard and considered his own dick. It wasn’t blue or twelve inches. Would Zuko like it? He’d never worried this much about it before. Suki had thought it was fine.

Right?

He had a sudden urge to ask her. He began to mentally draft his question:  _ hey Suki, I know we broke up a few months ago but I have to know, was my dick okay? You weren’t just being nice? _

“Did he take anything else?” Detective Wang Fire asked.

“Yeah, a container of a warming lube.” The shop owner did have more of those, so he showed Sokka.

Sokka grabbed it and put it in his bag. “We need it for evidence,” he explained.

The shop owner raised an eyebrow. “May I suggest the larger version of the dildo the Blue Spirit stole to go with that?” He quickly added, “As evidence.”

“There’s a larger version?” And Zuko had left it behind? Maybe size queen was an inaccurate descriptor.

“We just got it in yesterday, it’s still in the back. Let me grab it for you.”

Sokka crossed his arms and waited as the owner ducked into the back. His eyes scanned the shelves. Why had Zuko chosen that particular dildo? There were plenty here.

Hm. Come to think of it, Sokka hadn’t dated anyone in a while either, and he wasn't a Firelord. He could visit any shop he wanted. Or return to shops which intrigued him.

He jotted a note in his notepad and stuffed it in his pocket as the owner returned.

The dildo which the owner was holding was indeed curved, with a large round head, and thicker overall than Sokka had expected. He wasn’t sure what it was made of, but it had a glassy translucent appearance, like deep oceanic blue ice. The shaft had bubbles running up it, creating the ridges and bumps the owner had mentioned.

Again, why this particular dildo?

“Any reason why the Blue Spirit would take this one and leave the others?” Sokka asked.

The owner shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not super fussed about it. If it wasn’t the Blue Spirit I wouldn’t have even reported it. We don’t accept returns, in case the customer has used the item.”

Zuko using the item. Sokka hummed distractedly. “Thanks for all your help.”

The owner smirked. “Hope you enjoy the rest of your... investigation.”

Sokka considered arguing that he was a  _ professional _ , thank you very much, or his name wasn’t Wang Fire, but instead he huffed and left the shop, dildo still in hand.

↢ ⽕ ↣

“He said he’s willing to let it go?” Zuko asked, but he wasn’t paying that much attention to Sokka. His gaze was transfixed on the evidence which Sokka had gathered: the dildo and lube that Sokka had set on his desk.

“Yeah, pretty much.” When Zuko didn’t react, Sokka sighed. “Would you like to confiscate the evidence?”

Zuko’s eyes snapped up to meet Sokka’s. For a moment he seemed caught out, but then he relaxed. “Isn’t that why you grabbed it?”

“What if _ I _ wanted it?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”

“Nah, not really.” Sokka would prefer something smaller, by just a little bit. Thirteen inches was really too much.

“Great, so that’s settled.” Zuko set the dildo in his desk drawer, atop some probably important official Firelord papers.

“You’re sure a real boyfriend won’t be disappointing after this?” Sokka asked, with absolutely no concern for himself and his own ability to potentially satisfy Zuko.

Zuko snorted. “I doubt that’s going to be a problem for a while.”

Sokka frowned. “Why? You’re good-looking, and great at lots of things like swordbending-”

“Still not a thing.”

“-and theft, apparently, and not to mention you’re the Firelord.”

“And therefore everyone is scared of me.” Zuko leaned back in his chair, and he seemed, for a moment, so much older than he actually was. Sometimes Sokka forgot how much it had cost Zuko to become Firelord, and how much he’d struggled those first few years, rebuilding an entire nation that didn’t want to change at all. Had he ever really gotten to be young? “I don’t want to be with someone who’s scared to tell me if I upset him. I want whoever I date to be able to be honest with me when I’m being a bad boyfriend.”

That made sense. A power imbalance in a relationship could only cause problems, even if Zuko didn’t mean for it to.

“Is that part of why you never date?” Sokka asked. The only man in the entire world with as much political power as Zuko was Aang, who was dating Katara and was, truth be told, still a bit young for Zuko, even if he was technically an adult.

“It’s the entire reason.”

“Zuko!” The thought of Zuko denying himself like that rubbed Sokka the wrong way, and it took him a second to find the words to explain why. “You deserve to be happy.”

“Don’t worry, I am.” He patted the desk above the drawer where he’d stowed the toys. “Thank you, by the way.”

The meaningful gratitude was even more irritating. “Wouldn’t a real dick be better?”

What was Sokka even pushing for?

“Of course, but unless you’re offering-”

“If I am?”

The room was absolutely silent; Zuko’s breaths came evenly, and the summer breeze drifted through the office window, making the red curtains flutter. Sokka’s shirt stuck to his back; he felt too warm in this humid palace. Always warm.

“If you  _ were _ ,” Zuko breathed out, “then I would prefer that, but really, I’m happy with this.”

“Zuko.” Sokka’s voice was soft, and he had no idea what he was trying to say, only that he was feeling a lot of some emotion. Affection? Concern?

Sokka was leaning over the desk, and he saw the way Zuko’s eyes flicked down to the glimpse of chest exposed by the loose cut.

“Just to be clear,” Zuko said, slowly, standing. “Were you offering?”

Sokka debated lying, but pride would get him nowhere, and honesty, it seemed, would get him everywhere. “Yes.”

Zuko took a few steps around the desk. “And you’ll tell me to stop, if you want to?”

“Yes.” Sokka felt a lot of things for and around Zuko, but fear was not one of them. How could he be afraid? It’s Zuko.

“And you locked the door when you came in?” He removed his gold headpiece and set it on the desk, letting his dark silky hair fall around his shoulders.

Sokka’s gaze flicked to the door handle and recalled the click it had made. “Yes.”

Zuko paused, and Sokka could feel the heat of his skin, even from a foot away. Zuko always ran hot.

Zuko’s gaze dropped to Sokka’s lips. “Can I…?”

Sokka threw his arms around his shoulders and pulled him in.

Zuko kissed back with enthusiasm. Like the rest of him, Zuko’s mouth was warm, but unlike his muscular arms - which were wrapped around Sokka’s waist now - his lips were soft. Their bodies were pressed together and Sokka’s fingers tangled in soft hair. Zuko’s hands skated down to Sokka’s hips, his thumbs pressed into his hipbone.

Sokka knew what this was: Zuko was stressed from his job, and due to his recognizability and power, this kind of release was something only Sokka could provide. He understood.

A small part of him wished that this was more romantic, but when Zuko started mouthing his way down his chest, Sokka’s reservations vanished.

This was definitely worth any ensuing emotional pain.

↢ ⽕ ↣

The thought that maybe Sokka was just helping out a friend occurred to Zuko briefly, but Sokka wasn’t like that. He’d made it very clear during his time at the palace that he didn’t devote time or attention - especially attention - to tasks he didn’t enjoy. If he wasn’t interested, getting him to focus for five minutes was an impossible task, and this coming from a man who’d found someone who had been hidden for a hundred years, broken into a heavily guarded Fire Nation prison single-handed without using his firebending abilities, and saved the entire world with the help of his former enemies. Zuko did not use the word impossible lightly.

The thought that maybe he ought to talk to Sokka about what their relationship actually  _ was _ did  _ not _ occur to Zuko. He assumed that they were keeping their relationship a secret to prevent objections from advisors or accusations of undue Water Tribe influence upon Fire Nation politics. It just didn’t make sense to deal with any of that yet.

In Zuko’s mind, he and Sokka were boyfriends. He just… forgot to tell Sokka about it, because he didn’t think he needed to. They were on the same page. Right?

↢ ⽕ ↣

Now that he had an outlet for it, Zuko was horny all the time. Or maybe he’d been like that before, too; all Sokka knew was that he could hardly keep up.

Sokka sighed. He had to do everything around the palace, including the Firelord.

“Again?”

Zuko shrugged.

“It’s been four hours,” Sokka argued. A little over four hours since they’d woken up together in Zuko’s bed and taken advantage of the half hour before breakfast. Well, really, Zuko had woken and then nudged Sokka until he couldn’t ignore him anymore. (Admittedly, it had been kinda cute, the way Zuko cuddled up to him and pressed his nose into the crook of Sokka’s neck. It certainly wasn’t the worst thing to wake up to.)

“We don’t have to-“ Zuko said, although his attempt to keep his disappointment from appearing on his face was not working very well.

“You are so lucky to have me,” Sokka grumbled, grabbing Zuko’s wrist and pulling him along. His face lit up.

“I know,” Zuko said, and Sokka tried not to examine the honesty in his tone.

The guards barely raised an eyebrow at the pace at which Sokka ushered their boss to said boss’ quarters. Hm. Was that a security concern, that they ignored his urgency? What if Sokka had been trying to get Zuko away from an assassin?

They probably knew the real reason they were rushing, but still. Sokka should do some security tests soon. Maybe he and Zuko could try to break in, in disguise, just to see if they could.

Zuko pulled the door to his suite shut with a gentle click. “I do consider myself lucky, you know. To have you.”

“You do?” Sokka asked, surprised.

Zuko nodded. “Of course. How many people get to have sex with their best friend?”

Sokka pulled Zuko into a kiss so he didn’t have to feign a smile. This friends-with-benefits thing was gonna destroy him.

Well. Not if Sokka made some sort of plan.

↢ ⽕ ↣

It only took about thirty seconds for Sokka to come up with a plan, once his brain was no longer occupied trying to memorize every single detail of Zuko’s pleasure; the brightness of his golden eyes, the way his muscles shifted under Sokka’s hands, every gasping plea and the fire breath that accompanied them towards the end... right. Plan.

Sokka was going to show Zuko just how good of a boyfriend he could be.

Zuko obviously already understood how good Sokka could be in bed. He glanced over at where Zuko lay, sweating and still a bit out of breath, face flushed. He stretched lazily with a hum.

“I was right,” Zuko said.

“Hm?”

“I’m lucky.” Zuko snuggled into Sokka’s side, and he was too warm but Sokka didn’t even consider complaining.

So. Sokka could check that box.

But Sokka could be romantic, too, and he should show Zuko that side of himself.

Later, though. Sometime when he didn’t have a sleepy Firelord pressed against his chest, practically begging to be cuddled.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Zuko raised an eyebrow as Sokka struggled through the doorway to his bedroom with an overflowing bouquet of fire lilies.

Zuko only knew it was Sokka by his hands – which probably said something about how attracted to Sokka he was – because the bouquet was almost too tall and wide to fit through the doorway, and he couldn’t see Sokka around it.

“I’ve got it,” Sokka told guard Anh, as she tried to help him with it.

Zuko bit his lip and tried not to laugh.

Sokka struggled over to the table and set the vase on it. His expression was extraordinarily pleased.

“I’m not complaining,” Zuko began. “But why did you bring me all of the fire lilies in the nation?”

“Because you like them!”

Zuko’s laugh bubbled out of him, and Sokka seemed delighted. “Where did you even get them?”

“Oh, well, I had to travel all across the Fire Nation...”

Zuko interrupted him with a kiss. His boyfriend was the best.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Sokka tried again a few days later, with a dagger he’d found at the market. The sheath was carved with a delicate golden dragon and protected a black blade, made of an obsidian that glinted similarly to Sokka’s space sword. There was red string tied around its hilt.

Zuko’s expression was soft when Sokka handed it over, and the brush of their hands was electrifying. How was it that Zuko could still make him feel like a kid with a crush?

↢ ⽕ ↣

Zuko wished he was better at gift-giving. Sokka’s gifts were always so specifically tailored to Zuko’s interests, items which revealed that Sokka had wandered through the markets with the express purpose of finding a gift for Zuko. Zuko’s gifts, on the other hand, were always things he found. He thought about Sokka all the time, and he frequently found himself thinking that Sokka would like something, so he’d pocket it and hand it over whenever they next saw each other. The habit made him feel a bit like a squirrel-crow.

But when he found a perfectly circular white rock, he slid it into his pocket for Sokka. When they walked through the palace gardens, he plucked the prettiest flowers and tried to tuck them into Sokka’s wolftail or behind his ear. Once he brought Sokka a baby turtleduck – not to keep, but just because the turtleduck was napping in his pocket and it was really cute and he wanted Sokka to get a chance to see it.

“That’s adorable,” Sokka whispered, careful not to wake the turtleduckling.

“He likes to climb in my pocket,” Zuko explained. “I always have to make sure he’s not in there before I leave the gardens.” Otherwise the baby’s mom would get upset and start wandering the castle, nipping at people’s ankles and honking until she found her baby. He’d have to take the turtleduckling back soon.

The turtleduck let out a squeaky whistle of a snore. Sokka gasped.

“What’s his name?”

“What do  _ you _ think his name should be?” Zuko couldn’t tear his eyes away from Sokka’s face. His blue eyes were lit up in wonder.

After a moment of consideration, Sokka answered, “Mr. Snugglyboo.”

So maybe Zuko was okay at this gift thing.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Zuko didn’t seem to be getting the message. He just accepted the elaborate gifts with a laugh, insisted they weren’t necessary, and kissed Sokka with a small, soft ‘thanks.’

Sokka should stop short of a betrothal necklace though, probably, which was the next step up.

Okay, new strategy. Take Zuko on cute dates.

And Sokka had the perfect cute date activity for them: breaking into the Firelord’s own palace.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Zuko pulled down the black scarf that covered his face. “We could probably have someone else do this.”

“Sure,” Sokka agreed. “But I know how much you love breaking into places.”

That was true, Zuko did like to do that.

“Besides,” Sokka added. “We’re the best at it. If we can’t break in, no one can.”

“We have inside information.” Since it was Zuko’s palace and all.

“We can’t assume that an assassin wouldn’t.”

Zuko frowned, but Sokka was right. There still might be palace employees who were loyal to Ozai, as much as Zuko had tried to get rid of the old warmongering advisors and to treat all the current employees with respect and kindness. They had to prepare for a worst-case scenario. The best assassins with the most recent information.

“Okay.” Zuko pulled the scarf back up.

They were starting outside the palace gates, and Zuko wondered how much Sokka had planned this out.

Zuko followed Sokka along the wall. They paused and waited for the guards to pass, backs pressed against the stone, and then Sokka signalled to climb.

Zuko reached the top first. He took Sokka’s hand and pulled him the rest of the way up. As the next pair of guards rounded the corner, their torchlight casting strange shadows, the two of them dropped into the courtyard, landing silently on the stone.

They stuck to the shadows, sneaking towards the side entrance to the palace.

They heard footsteps and voices as they passed the columns. Zuko pushed off the wall and grabbed the rafters. He pulled himself up. With considerably less ease, Sokka pulled himself up, too.

They waited. The voices seemed to belong to regular nobles, not guards. Not that it mattered much; if they got caught by anyone it was game over, because unlike real assassins, Zuko was not inclined to hurt his guards nor random citizens.

When nobles had passed by and the courtyard was empty again, they dropped down. Zuko levered the lock of the door open with his sword.

They slipped inside the palace. They were already further than they should be able to get.

Sokka led the way towards Zuko’s sleeping quarters.

This late at night there weren’t many people awake and wandering the halls. The guards that they ran into were more easily evaded than Zuko liked, as the two of them ducked out of sight behind furniture or into rooms.

“What’s the plan for the guards at my door?” Zuko asked, as he and Sokka hid in a shadowy doorway. They had told the normal nightly number of guards to remain stationed outside the Firelord’s quarters in order to make the test more realistic, although Zuko had hoped they wouldn’t make it that far.

“Distraction,” Sokka said.

He pulled out something small and round with a bit of twine poking out of it, but before he had the chance to explain Zuko heard soft footsteps. He put his hand over Sokka’s mouth.

Carefully, Zuko peeked into the hallway, but there was no one there.

Hm.

Zuko’s instincts told him to duck just in time. He yanked Sokka down with him. A glint of gold whizzed past them overhead.

Zuko drew his dao blades. He felt confident that he could disarm this mystery opponent without actually harming them. The confidence did not vanish when a blade slashed inches from his throat; Zuko just deflected it.

The confidence did, however, subside when Zuko realized he’d just deflected Suki’s blade.

“Suki!” Sokka shouted, voice - and enthusiasm - both recognizable even through his scarf.

She paused. “Sokka?” Suki was dressed in her pajamas, with the exception of the scabbard at her hip and a shield on her arm.

Zuko sighed and pulled down the scarf. “Security test.”

“Oh.” Her sword arm dropped to her side. “Carry on?”

“You are part of the palace’s defenses,” Zuko reminded her.

She hummed. Without warning, her sword flashed, and one of Zuko’s swords clattered to the ground. Sokka picked it up.

“You’re right,” she said, deftly blocking Zuko’s other sword. “It wouldn’t be a fair test without me trying my hardest to stop you.”

Zuko was not at all surprised that Suki proved to be the most difficult obstacle to their break-in so far, even with Sokka’s help in fighting her. The clashing of her blade and shield against theirs drew a few more guards, but Zuko hadn’t had a chance to pull his scarf back up to obscure his face, so none of them interfered.

It took Zuko a moment to realize that if Suki’s attention was entirely on him, then Sokka wasn’t fighting anymore. It cost a few more seconds to locate Sokka while still defending himself from Suki, but no time at all to identify the sphere which Sokka had called a distraction.

Zuko really, really wished he’d had a chance to find out what kind of distraction it was earlier.

With a pair of flintstones, Sokka lit the twine, and in seconds the hallway was filled with smoke.

Zuko’s eyes watered. He pulled the scarf back up over his mouth, and allowed a hand around his wrist to tug him into the next hall.

Sokka broke into a run the second they were out of the smoke, and Zuko ran, too. They raced towards Zuko’s own bedchambers. This was no longer a stealth mission, it seemed.

The ground dropped out from under them suddenly, and they found themselves tumbling into a pit.

Toph stood above them at the mouth of the pit. “One nice thing about being blind, I can see just as well when it’s smoky.”

Sokka groaned. “Of course.”

Suki skidded to a halt on the other side of the pit, panting slightly. “Thanks, Toph.”

“No problem, fangirl.”

Zuko tried to grip the edge of the pit and pull himself up, but Toph moved the earth easily.

“Nuh-uh, you guys are in time-out.”

“What for?” Sokka protested.

“Not inviting me!” Toph stomped in frustration. “I want to break into places!”

“Toph-“ Zuko started, unsure if he was going to apologize or tell her off.

“First you steal some sex toys, then you break into your own palace, and you keep not bringing me along. I’d be the best at illegal activity!”

“You’re right,” Zuko conceded. “Next time I break into someplace, I’ll invite you.”

“ _ Thank _ you.” Toph raised the earth, leveling the hallway out again. “Are you breaking in anywhere again tonight?”

“No.” Zuko wanted to go to bed.

“Then good night.” Toph stomped off.

“I’d like to talk to you about security protocols in the morning,” Zuko told Suki.

“Sure.” She waved to them both. “’Night, Sokka.”

“Bye Suki!” Sokka waved back enthusiastically. When she was gone, he turned his smile on Zuko, although it dropped slightly in wattage. “Did you have fun?”

Zuko smiled back. “You know, I actually did.”

Sokka’s grin brightened again. “I knew you would.”

“Bed?” Zuko asked, and Sokka nodded.

It was the first time Sokka slept in his bed without them having sex first, and Zuko kind of liked it.

↢ ⽕ ↣

Zuko collapsed forward onto Sokka’s chest with a sigh. There was satisfaction in his voice when he said, “That was really good.”

“Yeah,” Sokka agreed, but a bit of melancholy had snuck its way into his voice.

“What’s wrong?” Zuko asked. His head was resting on Sokka’s shoulder, and his fingertips skated Sokka’s upper arm, tracing the tattooed band there.

Sokka shook his head. “Nothing.”

Zuko poked him. “Come on, aren’t good boyfriends supposed to be emotionally supportive? Let me emotionally support you.”

Sokka was silent for the few seconds it took him to parse the implications of Zuko’s comment. “We’re boyfriends?”

Zuko laughed. Then he stopped abruptly. “Oh.”

Sokka missed his warmth as Zuko pushed himself up.

“I just assumed we were on the same page,” Zuko said, frowning.

Hope swelled in Sokka’s chest. “Maybe we should talk about what page that is?”

“Do you...?” Zuko hesitated. “I’d like to be boyfriends. If you want to. And, uh. If not we should maybe... stop? Just because. I like you a lot and-”

“I want to be boyfriends,” Sokka assured him. Zuko lay back down atop him, and he felt Zuko’s sigh of relief.

Now that that was settled, though, Sokka kind of wanted to tease his boyfriend about some stuff.

“You thought we were boyfriends even though we never said?”

Zuko shrugged. “You thought we weren’t boyfriends even though we kiss and have sex?”

“I thought we were friends with benefits!”

Zuko’s laughs shook the both of them. “Sokka, we’ve been flirting for  _ ages _ . I thought we were finally getting together.”

Sokka couldn’t be too annoyed, when Zuko sounded that happy.

“I promise to work on communicating in the future,” Zuko said. He still sounded extremely amused.

“And I promise to actually talk to you if I’m upset about something in the future.” It was pretty much the same promise Zuko had made, Sokka realized, once he’d said it. He couldn’t be bothered to correct himself, though.

He was too happy.

As it turned out, none of his plans had been necessary.

“And to think,” Sokka said. “This all started because you decided to steal a dildo.”

Zuko hummed. “It’s just  _ possible _ that we are both kinda dumb.”

Sokka buried his laugh in Zuko’s hair, and he felt lighter than he had in ages.


End file.
